Foundation Drawing Spring

Although drawing was mandatory, I was very selective of who my teacher would be. I signed up for Karelyn Siegler's class. The reviews said she was strict but your drawing skills would approve ten-fold because of her. 

I can say that is exactly what happened. Though I found Professor Siegler to be reasonable in her teaching. If the student was slacking, they deserved to be told so. Though I was a little afraid of the grading system. To pass, it wasn't enough to just do the work. You had to actually do it well. 

Now, I am usually pretty confident about my skill. But honestly, when it comes down to it, I feel my work lacks a certain something. The people look flat and emotionless. Like there's no blood flowing. I had hopes that this class could fix that. 

This was the first drawing class where there was active note-taking and quizzing. It was quite challenging, actually. I get confused when I have to look at proportions mathematically. 

The first few weeks covered model sketching drills. 

We also discussed perspective and the coloring of the human face. These assignments forced me to buy markers. I had not a complaint about that. 

The last few months focused on self portraits. I'll share my favorites. 

This was the first one. I never was the best with charcoal. I was in mourning when this was drawn. But I would be lying if I said that was the reason I am frowning with a furrowed brow. That seems to be my natural expression.

The second portrait was to draw only the darkest shadows. I resemble a silent film villain. 

Here is another one. This time it's full a out marker and pencil rendering.  Friends have told me that I look like a male Japanese militant. I am quite pleased. 

My goal for the next self portrait was to make myself actually look feminine. To help accentuate it, I donned a red scarf and scarlet lipstick. Though like all of the previous portraits, I never knew when to quit.

The final one. I was going to try drawing myself with my hair down. Alas, I looked ridiculous. 

We were told we could go completely abstract with this one. I went wild with the colors, aiming for a more realistic/impressionistic look. But it seems that I was a little too undecided for the class standards.